Sunday, July 19, 2009

Rangitoto Volcano Island


Rangitoto was formed by a series of eruptions between 600 and 700 years ago. Scientists are in dispute about the length of the eruptions, which are thought to have lasted (with interruptions) for 10 to 200 years. In any case, the 2.3 cubic kilometres of material that erupted from the volcano was about equal to the combined mass produced by all the previous eruptions in the Auckland Volcanic Field, which were spread over more than 100,000 years.
The volcano is not expected to become active again, although future eruptions are likely within the volcanic field. Subsiding matter during the cooling process has left a moat-like ring around the crater summit, which may be viewed from a path which goes right round the rim and up to the highest point. (Information provided by wikipedia.org)

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